50,000 russian soldiers killed in the war in ukraine — the findings of a bbc investigation. the kremlin refuses to confirm or deny it. and this is what happened after a year and a half's rain fell yesterday in dubai. and coming up on bbc news, it's all to play for at the etihad, where, after sharing six goals last week, manchester city and real madrid meet once again for a place in the champions league semifinals. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. a fall in the price of some meats, crumpets and chocolate biscuits has helped push down inflation to its lowest level for 2.5 years. the rate at which consumer prices rose was 3.2% last month. that's down from 3.4% in february.

food prices were the main reason for the fall — it is slightly less than had been expected. inflation has been gradually coming down since its peak 18 months ago. 0ur chief economics correspondent, dharshini david, reports. from the moment her day starts, higher prices are taking their toll on sam, who cares for adults with learning difficulties. water is nearly 9% more expensive than a year ago. energy bills are down 18% — long—awaited relief for many. food and drink, however, is up 4% overall. milk is cheaper, as you may have noticed, but that could be overshadowed by the likes of sugar, which is 14% dearer. sam's had pay rises, but she is forgoing things from haircuts to eye tests to make ends meet. i have thought about leaving for a better paid job, but i love myjob, i'm very passionate about myjob and it's actually not a job, it's a vocation.

inflation has lowered considerably from its peak, helped by lower energy and food prices on a global basis. also, the impact of higher interest rates. and a drop in the energy price cap should help bring it down further to the bank of england's 2% target. but some parts, particularly services inflation, remain higher. thatjust nudged down to 6% last month, reflecting items such as rent, holidays, eating out, even mobile phone tariffs, and it's that that concerns the bank of england. so, it may wait a bit longer to cut interest rates. economists expect that to happen perhaps at the meeting in june or even august. some in the city say maybe even later, perhaps september, perhaps not till november. and many out there need the relief. council tax especially, it's just gone shooting up.

so it is getting more difficult every day, so i don't see any real changes. the most expensive thing is the accommodation and the oil and petrol. when the petrol prices are increasing, everything is increasing. i've not particularly- seen a considerable drop in anything, unfortunately. but hopefully, fingers crossed, things will start to improve. . ready to head to work, but only after sam's forked out much more for car insurance, although filling up costs slightly less than a year ago. but petrol prices could rebound if unrest in the middle east escalates, risking more bumps in the road to lower inflation. it's been tough — not just in this country — and for many, the journey isn't over yet. dharshini david, bbc news. the actor hugh grant has settled his long—running privacy case against the publisher of the sun newspaper,

after his lawyers told him that he could face legal costs of up to £10 million, even if he won. he says he was offered what he calls "an enormous sum of money" to settle the case. our culture editor, katie razzall, is here. how much of a surprise has this been? well, it is a surprise and it emerged in court documents, it came out today in page 18 of this one, there is a footnote saying hugh grant settled his case against news group. the actor later put a statement on x and prepare for irony. he said, as is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of and as you were saying, that is estimated he thinks to be around £10 million. clearly an awful lot of money, but he is also clearly regretting not having his day in court. i mean, he had claimed the

sun had commissioned someone to burgle his car, to burgle his home and to bug his car. and he says he's going to spend his money has got from news group newspapers on continuing his campaign to reform the press. this is all part of a wider claim against rupert murdoch's titles about unlawful information gathering. it is all denied by news group newspapers. but it includes prince harry. 0f group newspapers. but it includes prince harry. of course, tonight, people are wondering if the duke of sussexis people are wondering if the duke of sussex is the only one who has deep enough pockets to continue to the trial that is planned next year in january. newsgroup says it disputes all the claims against the sun going to the civil courts and does not accept any liability or make any admissions, but it says it is in the financial interests of both parties not to go through a financial trial. katie razzall. thank you. more than 50,000 russian soldiers

have been killed so far in the war in ukraine. that figure has come from a bbc investigation with independent russian website mediazona, which has managed to verify the identities of those killed and found that the figure is much higher than the russian authorities in moscow have admited to. in moscow have admitted to. today, the kremlin has responded to the bbc�*s report. it neither confirmed nor denied the 50,000 figure, saying it has laws on state secrets. bbc russian�*s 0lga ivshina reports. in russia, the number of war graves is growing fast. 5th of november. 9th of november. listing the dates of death, volunteers have sent us this video from the city of vladivostok. and here is the same cemetery from above. in the last two years, it has grown twice in size — a pattern seen in graveyards all over russia. since the start of the invasion, the bbc and its partners have been

verifying photos of graves, social media posts and news articles to track down the number of russians killed fighting in ukraine. so far, we have verified 50,000 names. our data shows that russia has lost 23% more troops in the second year of invasion compared to the first. this increase reflects a shift in tactics. at first, russia relied on its professional soldiers deployed to carry out complex operations. but since january 2023, russia began sending thousands of inexperienced troops forward in waves, to weaken ukrainian positions and expose their location to russian artillery. soldiers themselves call it the "meat grinder". the russians are now able to bring a lot more firepower to bear against ukrainian positions when they go into the offensive. as long as the ukrainians are unable to shift that balance of firepower, the meat grinder tactics will very likely continue to be quite successful in taking limited areas

of ground across the front. prisoners, recruited and sent to war, have been crucial to these tactics. in return for six months on the frontline, they were promised freedom — if they survived. we have tracked down more than 1,000 russian inmates from the day they signed up till the day they died. of that number, more than half the prisoners were killed within just 12 weeks of arriving at the front line. whilst our account only includes deaths recorded publicly, data from cemeteries across russia suggests the true figure is likely to be twice as high. and as russian forces continue to push on, pictures of new graves keep coming every day. 0lga ivshina, bbc news. a russian missile attack has killed 17 people and injured more than 60 others in the city of chernihiv, in northern ukraine. officials say dozens of other residents have been wounded,

and have appealed urgently for blood donations. the missile strikes hit an eight—storey building and others nearby. ukraine's president zelensky says it wouldn't have happened if western allies had supplied enough air defences. paedophiles who are convicted of the most serious offences could lose parental rights over their own children. it follows a recent report by the bbc�*s sanchia berg about a mother who spent £30,000 in legal fees to stop her paedophile ex—husband getting access to their daughter. sanchia is here now with the story. sophie. family courts handle sensitive areas of families' lives and have held hearings in private for decades. but over the last few months, journalists have been allowed to report from some of them, provided we keep the families anonymous. one case i followed in cardiff exposed a problem with the law. a young mother, who we've called

bethan, was asking the judge to take away her ex—husband's parental rights because he had been convicted of serious paedophile offences. he had been barred from contact with all children, except his own daughter. the mother won, but told me how it cost more than £30,000 in legalfees. my report prompted the labour mp harriet harman to try to change the law. although we've been protecting other people's children from sex offenders since the 1990s, that we haven't challenged the patriarchal right of fathers to have responsibility over their own children. but as soon as you see a case and you realise how it's working, it's obvious that action needs to be taken. her amendment to a bill passing through parliament has cross—party support and the backing of the lord chancellor, so has a good chance of becoming law. it would mean those found guilty of the most serious child sex

offences would lose their parental rights as soon as they were convicted. parents like bethan would not have to pay thousands in legal fees to keep their child safe. we've revoiced the clip to protect her identity. without reporting — _ people, politicians, policymakers — no—one is aware of what's going on in family courts. | and because this case was reported on, those issues were brought - to a wider audience, _ those experts can actually weigh in and say, this isn't right. and that's why they could produce an amendment, because now- they understand what the need was. it's a tremendous victory. we could report this case because the cardiff family court has been part of an experiment in 0penjustice — that's now been expanded to cover almost half the family courts in england and wales. sophie. sanchia, thank you. sussex police has apologised for mistakes in its investigation into the 1986 murders of two nine—year—old girls. nicola fellows and karen hadaway were sexually assaulted

and strangled in woodland in brighton by russell bishop. bishop was aquitted at the end of his first trial, but was convicted 32 years after the girls' murders, in 2018. today, the chief constable of sussex police apologised for failings in the original investigation. an israeli woman who was taken hostage by hamas in october has been describing the horrifying conditions she was subjected to in gaza. aviva siegel was released in november, but her husband — who was also kidnapped from their kibbutz — is still being held. from jerusalem, lucy manning sent this report. a warning — her report contains distressing details. when the hamas gunmen came to kfar aza on october 7th, they murdered and kidnapped. two of those taken, husband and wife

keith and aviva siegel. she was freed. he is still a hostage. i'm not speaking, i'm screaming. i need help from the whole world. i was there for 51 days and know what it's like. can you tell me a bit about the conditions that you were held in? keith and i were moved 13 times, so with the different conditions. we met lots of terrorists and they acted brutally in every place we went to. one of the times, they took us down to a tunnel and there was no oxygen there and theyjust left us there. and i can't explain what the feeling is of not being able to breathe and you know that it might be your last hours. keith and aviva were also held in houses with other hostages, where she witnessed beatings and was aware of sexual assaults. they were so mean to us. they just starved us for days and ate in front of us. we weren't allowed to even stand

and we weren't allowed to talk. one of the days, one of the girls went to the toilet, and while she came back, i could see on the face that something happened. and only after a couple of hours, she came and she told us. she said, "he touched me." and that was one of the terriblest moments, because i felt that i couldn't even look after this little girl. she'sjust a child. you were aware, were you, that sexual assault was taking place on some of the female hostages? yes, because i was there. and i saw the girls coming after those things happening and telling us what happened. screaming after 51 days in november, aviva was released — but without keith. i said that, "i'm not going without keith."

and i begged him. it didn't help. and they didn't even let me go and say goodbye to keith until i pushed them. luckily, i could give keith a hug, and i told him to be strong for me and i'll be strong for him. but i don't know. i'm starting to lose my hope. and i'm sure that keith is. it wasn't until her release that she discovered her son shai had survived the attack. and when i saw shai for the first time, i couldn't stop hugging him, and i told him that i thought that he was dead. why do you think it is that keith and the others are still held after all this time? i think that hamas is getting the pleasure of them being there and seeing us suffer. i think that everybody, the whole world needs to do more. just get them out, just get them out. lucy manning speaking

to aviva siegel there. the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, has insisted his country will make its own decisions about how to respond to iran's attack. he was speaking after meeting the foreign secretary, lord cameron, and germany's foreign minister, who both urged restraint, amid fears israel could retaliate aggressively and escalate the conflict in the middle east. 0ur diplomatic correspondent, james landale, is injerusalem for us. and there are real fears that this could escalate further? yes, there are. if israel chooses to retaliate hard against iran because of the weekend attack, that could raise tensions substantially. that is why lord cameron was here alongside his german counterpart is alongside his german counterpart is a kind of diplomatic double act today to try and talk to the israeli leadership with one single message, restraint. in other words, leadership with one single message, restraint. in otherwords, if leadership with one single message, restraint. in other words, if and when you do act and respond to iran,

do it in a way that limits rather than expand this war. we wanted to demonstrate our solidarity with israel because it was an appalling attack by iran. but, to be clear, we have repeated our view that any response should be smart and that should be designed in a way that is going to limit and try to de—escalate this conflict. nobody wants to see this conflict grow and spread. lord cameron also raised the situation in gaza, the continuing humanitarian crisis and urged israel to do more to let aid in. the message that in the last few minutes has been reiterated by president biden who put out a social media post on x saying more aid is getting it is still not enough. the prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu sat and listened to all the advice he was getting from these two foreign ministers today and after they left he made it very

clear what he thought. he thought. he said, i thank you for the nice suggestions and ideas you have been made but let me be clear, israel will make its own decisions and israel will do what is necessary to defend itself. so it is clear that israel is going to take action. we stilljust don't know what israel is going to take action. we still just don't know what and israel is going to take action. we stilljust don't know what and how. 0ne stilljust don't know what and how. one final thought, stilljust don't know what and how. 0ne finalthought, israel stilljust don't know what and how. one final thought, israel is, however, making it very clear they want to protect the diplomatic gains that they have made in recent days because of the attack and that might ultimately shape or even limit what they choose to do if and when they hit back against iran.— hit back against iran. james lang stuff thank _ hit back against iran. james lang stuff thank you. _ the time is 18:19. our top story this evening: a fall in food prices helps inflation fall to 3.2% last month — the lowest it's been for two and a half years. still to come... and a half years. i and a half years. am here at the etihad stadium as manchester i am here at the etihad stadium as manchester city and arsenal try to make it through to the semifinals of

the champions league. coming up on bbc news, it should be third time lucky. dens park is ready for dundee against rangers in the scottish premiership — postponed twice and now pushed to a point when a victory is vital for rangers' title hopes. the 2024 paris 0lympics get underway in 100 days time. almost 8 million tickets have been sold for games — the last batch went on sale today. the president of the organising committee says there'll be unprecedented security at the sporting venues but he is "very satisfied" with preparations for the event. 0ur sports editor dan roan sent this report from paris. the view from the top of paris' most famous landmark is changing — 0lympic venues springing up across the city, as the biggest event france has ever organised looms into view, with almost eight million tickets already sold. paris is getting transformed

into an olympic park. as you can see, most of our most iconic venues are going to be hosting some of the major events. the stands are being built. i think our city is ready to welcome you and the athletes. we were granted access to one of the most spectacular sports venues being built for the games — preparations gathering pace, with just 100 days to go. this will be the playing surface for the beach volleyball competition. this 13,000 seater arena, a temporary venue, is rapidly taking shape. and as you can see, the setting couldn't be any more iconic. but at a time of high geopolitical tension and in a country that has seen extremist attacks, there are mounting safety concerns — especially over the unprecedented opening ceremony, with athletes set to sail along a stretch of the seine on barges. it will be well—organised. the man in charge of delivering the games told me he was remaining confident. security is the top priority. from day one, we put in place an unprecedented system. can you guarantee that an event

that's open on the river is safe? yes. there is this expertise coming from the public authorities. i trust when they say "we know how to deliver an opening ceremony on the river seine." despite such assurances, this week, french president, emmanuel macron, admitted the opening ceremony may have to move from the river if the security risk is deemed too high. do you wish it was a different world that this was being staged in? we should not be too naive. and we we know that people will try to benefit from this media exposure. but again, it's up to us to remain calm and to promote and defend what is the most important in this event — and for me, it's sport. 0rganisers say the games will help to regenerate the suburb of saint—denis, home to the main stadium and athletes' village, and one of the poorest and most diverse parts of the country. but some who live here have doubts about its legacy. it would be very

complicated to travel. maybe for two months there will be some jobs, but it won't last. will it change the everyday life of the inhabitants? i don't think so. despite concerns over swimming events in the seine due to pollution, organisers claim paris will set a new model of sustainability for future 0lympics — with 95% of the games in existing or temporary infrastructure. but with the final countdown under way, a successful event will depend on delivering on all fronts. dan roan, bbc news. a man who set fire to two elderly worshippers as they made their way home from mosques in london and birmingham, has been given an indefinite hospital order. mohammed abbkr — who's 29 and has paranoid schizophrenia — was convicted of two counts of attempted murder last year for the attacks. the post office inquiry has been told that challenges to the horizon it system in separate cases were not treated as related,

because investigators didn't know there was a bug. jon longman, who investigated post office employees for more than a decade, said he believed the horizon system was robust. watching on at the inquiry was a former submistress who was wrongly sent to jail when she was pregnant as a result of his report. here's our business editor, simonjack seema misra was pregnant with her second child when she was convicted and jailed in 2010 for a crime she didn't commit. her conviction was overturned, but nearly 15 years later, the scars, the stigma of that experience are still raw. i have to lie to my eldest son — that mum is pregnant, that's why she's going to the special hospital. her parents in india were never told and died without knowing of her ordeal. i knew if i tell them i've been to prison, that's it, i will lose them. so, i lost both of them before my conviction was overturned. i swear by almighty god...

the investigator on seema's case originally said he didn't know of other complaints about the horizon software system, but today admitted he did. this should have been mentioned or presented to the defence so that, obviously, they could make their own inquiries or representations about this. with hindsight, maybe i should have been a bit more forceful with trying to get this disclosure to the defence. what's emerged from behind the doors of the inquiry this morning — and for several months — is an organisation reluctant and nervous about acknowledging the scale of the problems at horizon software, very reluctant to share or disclose the information and using criminal convictions as evidence that horizon was working when the evidence on which this convictions was based was faulty. lawyers for the victims say the post office didn't ask the right questions because they already knew or were scared of the answer — that horizon and the prosecutions

were deeply flawed. simonjack, bbc news, at the post office inquiry. football now and it's a crucial night for arsenal and manchester city, who are both in champions league action this evening. the gunners face bayern munich in germany, while city are home to real madrid. 0ur sports correspondent, andy swiss, is outside the etihad stadium in manchester for us this evening. at the etihad stadium and they could be in for a dramatic night because the first leg between manchester city and real madrid was an absolute thriller. it finished 3—3, so all to play for tonight to stop city will start as the favourites. they won the champions league title last year but real madrid had so many big names in theirteam, but real madrid had so many big names in their team, including one of england's's young stars, jude

bellingham, who has been so impressive for real madrid since he joined them last summer. as for arsenal, it is a similar challenge for them in many ways. they also drew their first leg against bayern munich and they are also up against one of england's biggest stars, the england captain no less, harry kane, who has scored some 32 goals for bayern munich this season. so for both arsenal and city it won't be easy but they know that if they both win here tonight, they will play each other in the semifinals and what a prospect that would be. indeed, thank you very much. this was what happened when a year and half's worth of rain fell in the united arab emirates yesterday — the heaviest rainfall for at least 75 years. it caused major disruption at dubai airport — the second busiest in the world and problems are still continuing. graham satchell reports. the storm that hit dubai was ferocious.

more than a year's worth of rainfall fell in less than 2a hours. these time—lapse pictures show the gathering clouds as darkness falls and the rain begins. the floods left the city completely underwater, with cars submerged and stranded, including some expensive ones like this rolls—royce. some drivers attempted to make their way through, but others were left to improvise as best they could. at the airport, extraordinary images, as planes taxied through what looks like a lake. thousands of passengers — many of them british — have been left stranded, with flights cancelled and delayed. the united arab emirates is one of the driest regions in the world. experts say climate change means we'll continue to see extreme weather like this. dubai is a city of concrete and glass, with little infrastructure like storm drains that could help it deal with a sudden influx of water. emergency services have been busy.

this cat — using up one of its nine lives — had a lucky escape. graham satchell, bbc news. incredible pictures. let's have a look at the weather here, ben rich is with us. much drier in the middle east now and at home here, things are drying up. but it is a slow process. we have still had some pretty hefty showers in places today. this area of high pressure is what is going to drive things up but it is still a long way to the west of us and actually around the top of this high, various weather systems moving through with outbreaks of rain, across parts of south—west wales, south—west england. that will clear tonight. showers continue in the south—east of england, cloud and rain in western scotland later but in between, a slice of clear sky and these are the temperatures away from these are the temperatures away from the city is out in the countryside, dropping below freezing. a touch of frost to start tomorrow. england and wales, starting with some sunshine, south—west of england will keep hold

of that but elsewhere it will cloud over with some rain. northern ireland seeing some rain at times and wet weather moving across scotland. the wind coming more from the west than from the north so actually feeling a little bit less chilly than it has done. the frontal system eases away during thursday night and into friday. behind it, we get back into northerly winds so a chilly feeling day on friday. sunshine and showers. quite windy, particularly in the north—east of scotland and those temperatures are struggling a little, maybe 8—9 in northern scotland, 15 down towards the south. as we get into the weekend, the weekend, the high pressure finally makes its move that even by this stage, it is not plain sailing. this frontal system here providing some cloud, some patchy rain and also if you are close to the east coast, the wind coming off the north sea will make it feel really cold in places. parts of the coast of east anglia may be eight or 9 degrees. the best of the sunshine and warmth will be further west.

of the sunshine and warmth will be furtherwest. parts of the sunshine and warmth will be further west. parts of of the sunshine and warmth will be furtherwest. parts of the sunshine and warmth will be further west. parts of northern ireland could get to 16 degrees. so hello and welcome to sportsday — i'm hugh ferris. 0ur headlines this evening. their last etihad meeting was momentous. can manchester city turn it on against real madrid again as they hunt a semi—final place in the champions league? arsenal suffered a sucker punch in the premier league at the weekend, but beat bayern and they'll reach the last four of the champions league for the first time in 15 years. it should be third time lucky. dens park is ready for dundee against rangers in the scottish premiership. postponed twice and now pushed to a point when a victory is vital for rangers' title hopes. also coming up on sportsday... 100 days to go. paris 2024 insists its

preparations are on course and security remains its number one priority.